The invention relates to a putter golf club. More particularly, it relates to a putter golf club where mass has been distributed away from the putter's horizontal center of mass to aid in resisting unintended rotation when a putt is made and thereby facilitate making straight putts.
Putting is an under-appreciated art in the world of golf. As a result, many golfers put more thought into the selection of their drivers and irons than the selection of their putters. Despite this, on average more than 40% of all golf shots are putts, and it is undeniable that efficient putting is essential to a good game of golf.
In the physics of golf putting, in order to putt a golf ball in the most straight and therefore predictable manner it is necessary for a golf ball to be contacted by the portion of a putter known as its sweet spot.
The sweet spot appears on a putter's striking face. The striking face is the portion of the putter where contact with a golf ball is made when putting. Particularly, the sweet spot appears on the portion of the striking face in front of the putter's horizontal center of mass. Frequently, putters are designed to have a sweet spot at a midway point on the striking face between a heel and toe section of a putter. For reference, the heel of a putter is the part of the club pointing closer to the golfer and the toe is the section farther away from the golfer. When a golf ball is struck with the putter's sweet spot it will generally travel in a relatively straight line.
In practice, many golfers do not hit a golf ball consistently on the portion of the striking face in front of its horizontal center of mass. If a golfer strikes a putt off of this area the golf ball has a tendency to not travel in a straight line, thus making the putt unpredictable and less likely to sink. If the heel of a striking face hits the golf ball first, the face of the golf club will rotate closed, or towards the person making the putt. In such circumstances the golf ball will not travel in its intended straight course but rather in a direction consistent with the striking face's rotation. The opposite is true if the toe-side of the striking face hits the ball first. A large sweet spot on a putter can compensate for this by allowing putts to be made close to if not exactly on the putter's horizontal center of mass and remain accurate.
Similarly, many golfers accidently impart twist into their putters when putting. Slight twist imparted by the hands or body of the golfer causes the toe or heel of the striking face to contact a golf ball first, again leading to an unpredictable shot.
Understanding these actions aids in understanding the advantages of the present invention. Physics controls the operation of putters which, like all matter, obey Newton's Laws. According to Newton's First Law an object at rest tends to stay at rest in a linear or rotational fashion unless acted upon by an outside force. A slight rotational force imparted to the putter's striking face by rotation of the golfer's hands when making a shot or by striking a golf ball off a putter's sweet spot will cause the heel or toe of a putter to strike the golf ball first, leading to a poor and probably missed shot.
Increasing rotational inertia of a putter serves, in line with the physics of the application, to make a putter that is more resistant to twisting. Rotational inertia is a measure of an object's resistance to twisting. Increasing rotational inertia of a putter serves to create a club with the largest possible sweet spot or area on the striking face where a golf ball struck from there will travel in a straight course and not deviate due to twisting of the striking face. As a result, many golf professionals consider rotational inertia to be extremely important in evaluating a club. For example, famous golf club designer Ralph Maltby in creating his Maltby Playability Factor rates how well clubs perform in the hands of different players. In his rating of putters, he considers rotational inertia to be a key factor in determining whether a putter receives a good or bad score.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.